The Boston Comedy Club was an American

comedy club A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisati ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York, founded by

Barry Katz Barry Katz is an American television producer, film producer and talent manager. He was the owner and founder of the Boston Comedy Club in New York City and helped launch the careers of many successful comedians, including Bill Burr, Dane Cook, ...

. The club was located at 82 West 3rd Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street. The club was open from 1988 to 2005 and was a starting point for comedians such as

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Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

Neal Brennan Neal Brennan (born October 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his N ...

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

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and

Pete Holmes Peter Benedict Holmes (born March 30, 1979) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Holmes gained recognition in the early 2010s as a stand-up comic, during which he launched his podcast ''You Made It Weird'' (2011–p ...

History

The Boston Comedy Club was founded in 1988 by comedy talent manager and producer

. Katz started as a stand-up comedian in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the 1980s, later becoming a booking agent for other comedians. Katz also opened up a talent agency in New York City and Louis C.K., whom Katz met while in Boston, was his first client. C.K. also helped Katz to install the wiring and lighting at the Boston Comedy Club and was the first comedian to perform there.

(co-creator of '' Chappelle Show'') started as a doorman at the club and counted the experience as one of "10 Defining Moments" in his comedy career as per the list he put together for ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine's pop culture website ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

''. It was at the Boston Comedy Club that Brennan first performed stand up and where he first met

and

all worked as "barkers" for the club in their early careers—barkers are responsible for announcing line ups and distributing fliers to people passing by the club's entrance.

started his comedy career at the club, performing there at age 17.

's first stand up performance was in 1994 at one of the club's

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

nights. The club closed its doors in 2005. In 2016 a re-creation of the club was built for Pete Holmes's semi-autobiographical television series '' Crashing''. During Katz's 2016 appearance on the ''Be Here For A While'' podcast hosted by comedian Rachael O'Brien, Katz was asked: "Why did you call the club 'The Boston Comedy Club' in New York?" Katz responded: "Because clearly I'm an idiot."

References

{{Reflist Comedy clubs in Manhattan Defunct comedy clubs in the United States Greenwich Village